April
5, 2006
AL Direct is a free electronic newsletter e-mailed
every Wednesday to personal members of the American
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Contents:
U.S. & World News
ALA News
Booklist Online
New Orleans Update
Division News
Round Table News
Awards
Seen Online
Actions & Answers
Poll
Datebook
AL Direct
FAQ
DOJ
subpoenaed dozens of companies in addition to Google
The
Department of Justice has gone beyond Google in its quest for evidence
to develop a case in preparation for an October trial in Philadelphia
over the Child Online Protection Act (COPA)....
Groups
criticize Bush’s Patriot Act
signing statement
A
coalition of librarians, booksellers, publishers, and writers has accused
President Bush of undermining new provisions in the reauthorized Patriot
Act that require him to inform Congress how the FBI is using its expanded
police powers, including those authorizing access to library and bookstore
records....
West
Virginia school librarians
threatened with layoffs
In
response to a looming fiscal crisis, the superintendent of the Wetzel
County (W.Va.) Schools has proposed eliminating as of FY 2006–07
all library staff at the system’s four high schools....
Indianapolis
director declines pay raise
in face of library cuts
Indianapolis–Marion
County Public Library CEO Linda Mielke has declined a 4% pay raise that
would have boosted her salary to about $122,000, saying in a statement
that it “sends the wrong message” at a time when the library
is cutting spending....
Scranton
trustees restrict R-rated
movie loans
The
Scranton (Pa.) Public Library Board unanimously approved a policy March
30 to restrict R-rated movie loans to youths 17 and under unless a parent
or guardian has given written permission....
Georgia
library considers policy
for movie screenings
The
Columbus (Ga.) Public Library is considering implementing a policy to
restrict younger patrons from watching movies screened at the library....
IMLS
announces $163 million in grants
to state library agencies
The
Institute of Museum and Library Services has awarded over $163 million
in grants to state library agencies....
British
Library enumerates missing items
The
British Library in London has confirmed that only 28 valuable items have
been stolen from its collection in the last five years....
Annual
Conference
in New Orleans,
June 22–28.
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Conference Wiki.
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April 2006 Stories inside include: New England’s Carnegie libraries Construction
funding 101 Libraries
= cultural icons: The 2006 facilities showcase
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Put it in writing: Woman’s Day magazine is asking
its women readers aged 18 and over to submit their stories, in 700 words
or less, on how the library has changed their lives. Send stories to womansday@ala.org
from now until
May 10.
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“Not only do librarians have their own unique stories to tell, but they make great partners for games of Trivial Pursuit.” —Contributing writer Sheryl Imhoff, on the ways today’s libraries and librarians defy stereotypes, Cincinnati Community Press, Mar. 8 |
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Annual
Conference closing session
to feature Caroline Kennedy
Author Caroline Kennedy, who is the president of the John
F. Kennedy Library Foundation, will be the featured speaker at the ALA
Annual Conference closing session on Tuesday, June 27, in New Orleans....
International
attendees
at Annual Conference
Librarians from 34 countries have registered for the ALA Annual Conference
in New Orleans....
ALA International Relations Office
ALA
boosts Mississippi libraries
fund by $100,000
A $100,000 donation from ALA during National Library Week (April 2–8)
will nearly triple the Rebuild Mississippi Libraries Fund. ALA President
Michael Gorman presented the check to Mississippi Library Association
President Susan Cassagne and Mississippi Library Commission Executive
Director Sharman Smith on April 4 at the Waveland Public Library....
State
of America's Libraries report
The
first-ever State of America's Libraries report
details both the positive impact libraries and librarians have on the
millions of people who use them and the funding challenges they face....
Advocacy
Institute to address
65% Rule, TABOR laws
The Advocacy Institute at the 2006 ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans—now
in an afternoon time slot—will focus on two types of state legislation:
the 65% Rule, affecting school libraries, and TABOR (Taxpayer Bill of
Rights) Laws, primarily impacting public libraries....
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You
have to see it for yourself |
ALA
leaders tour Gulf Coast libraries; find spirit of rebuilding, much work
still to be done
In honor of National Library Week, ALA President Michael
Gorman, ALA President-Elect Leslie Burger, and ALA Executive Director
Keith Michael Fiels toured a number of libraries ravaged by Hurricane
Katrina, learned about their rebuilding efforts and honored their work....
New
Orleans readies itself
for largest convention since Katrina
The ALA contingent met with representatives from the City
of New Orleans and New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau to review
the progress that New Orleans has made as it prepares for the arrival
of over 22,000 conference attendees....
Powells.com’s
Katrina Project
helps rebuild New Orleans Public Library
Customers
at online bookstore Powells.com can purchase book pledges for $8.95, then
suggest a book to help rebuild New Orleans Public Library’s collection.
Pledges will be delivered to the New Orleans Public Library Foundation,
and Powell’s Katrina Project will add a book to its Levee for Life
at Princeton University for each pledge....
Powell’s Books
Cost
of levee repair triples
Announcing that the cost of rebuilding New Orleans's levees has tripled
to $9.5 billion, the Bush administration has acknowledged that there may
not be enough money for the government to offer the entire region full
protection....
Washington Post, Mar. 31
New
Orleans postal facility reopened
The U.S. Postal Service reopened its New Orleans processing and distributing
center April 3, a move expected to drastically shorten post-Katrina delivery
times that have seen letters take a week or more to travel just across
town. Periodicals and other second-class mail are still embargoed, however,
although that ban is expected to be lifted by May 1....
New Orleans Times-Picayune,
Apr. 3
Signs of
recovery in New Orleans
The New
Orleans Times-Picayune has begun a weekly compilation of Signs of
Recovery that "brighten our mood and show that we are on the mend." The
first roundup
notes the filming of Déjà vu, the city's first post-Katrina movie
shoot....
New Orleans Times-Picayune,
Apr. 4
Students
spend spring break shoveling muck
Eleven students from Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy
tell how they spent their spring break helping the cleanup in New Orleans.
They joined about 400 students from around the country who took part in
the effort....
Boston Globe, Mar. 29
Historic
New Orleans Collection
showcases "Common Routes"
During the ALA Annual Conference, the Historic New Orleans Collection
will feature "Common Routes: St. Domingue–Louisiana," a celebration
of the connections between Louisiana and St. Domingue (Haiti). The French
Quarter museum will also be exhibiting the Toussaint Louverture series
by Jacob Lawrence. Both shows close June 30....
Care and
(RSS) feeding of patrons (PDF file)
In a recent Tech Notes paper from
PLA, Richard W. Boss offers a guide for libraries wanting to supply
RSS feeds of their website offerings to their patrons....
Deadline
extended for student writing award
LITA has extended the deadline for its award for the best unpublished
manuscript by a student in an ALA-accredited library studies program,
sponsored by the division and Endeavor Information Systems. The new deadline
is Friday, April 21....
LITA appoints
web
manager,
standards
coordinator
LITA has appointed David Altenhof, circulation librarian
at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and Diane I. Hillmann, research librarian
at Cornell University Library, to two-year terms as web manager and standards
coordinator, respectively....
Native
American exclusion focus of Annual Conference program
The exclusion of Native American perspectives from mainstream American
culture will be the topic of a program sponsored by the Intellectual Freedom
Round Table at the ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans, June 22–28....
NISO's
Patricia R. Harris wins LITA/Library Hi Tech communication award
Patricia R. Harris, executive director of the National Information Standards
Organization since 1983, is the winner of the 2006 LITA/Library Hi Tech
award for outstanding communication in library and information technology....
Orange
County Public Library gets D&B minority business award from RUSA
The 2006 Dun and Bradstreet Award for outstanding service to minority
business communities goes to the Orange County (Calif.) Public Library.
is the 2006 recipient of the 2006 Dun and Bradstreet Award for Outstanding
Service to Minority Business Communities. The award is presented by RUSA's
Business Reference and Services Section....
RUSA
business leadership award
goes to Bobray Bordelon
Bobray Bordelon, Pliny Fisk Librarian of Economics and Finance at Princeton
University, is the 2006 recipient of the Thomson Gale Award for Excellence
in Business Librarianship, administered by RUSA's Business Reference and
Services Section (BRASS)....
Shakespeare
First Folio up for bid
A rare complete copy of the First Folio of Shakespeare's plays is expected
to bring at least $6 million when Sotheby's auctions it this summer in
London. The 1623 volume, still in its 17th-century calf binding, is being
sold by Dr. Williams's Theological Library in London....
London Times, Mar. 31
Filmmakers
slam Smithsonian
deal with Showtime
Ken Burns and other prominent documentary filmmakers and historians are
blasting a deal between the Smithsonian Institution and the Showtime Networks
cable channels to create television programming, saying it could cut off
their access to the museum's collections and curators....
New York Times, Apr. 1
U.S.
News
ranks library studies programs
U.S. News
and World Report has released its 2007 rankings of "America's Best
Graduate Schools." The guide to library and information studies programs
breaks out the ratings by such specialties as archives and preservation,
digital librarianship, and services for children and youth....
U.S. News and World Report
Borders
to sell
Sony e-book reader
When Sony's new e-book reader debuts this summer, it will be sold at 200
Borders bookstores. The Sony Reader, retailing for $299–$399 will
also be available at 30 Sony Style stores....
CNet online news, Apr. 4
Attendance
dips at presidential libraries
A sharp decline in attendance at most presidential libraries and museums
has prompted the National Archives and Records Administration to launch
a multiyear market research project to raise the facilities' profiles
and find out what attracts visitors....
Dallas Morning News, Mar.
30
UWM
librarian dispels stereotypes
on public radio
University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee electronic resources Librarian
John Hubbard appeared on April 4 public radio station WUWM to discuss
librarian stereotypes. (The piece is about 33 minutes into the audiofile
of the At 10 program.)
WUWM
Rock
’n’ Roll Library
Library graduate students at the University of Pittsburgh
produced a video for National Library Week showing how a geeky guy is
transformed by the library’s resources into a rock star....
YouTube
Oh
D.E.A.R—It's time to read
April 12 has been designated National D.E.A.R.—Drop Everything And
Read Day—a special reading celebration to remind and encourage families
to make reading together on a daily basis a priority....
D.E.A.R.
NISO
Forms RFID Committee
The National Information Standards Organization has formed a committee
to create guidelines for best practices for the use of radio frequency
identification (RFID) in library applications. The diverse group, which
will include RFID hardware manufacturers, software providers, librarians,
book jobbers, and processors, will be chaired by VTLS CEO Vinod Chachra....
NISO, Mar. 21
Depository
Library Council
gets new members (PDF file)
The U.S. Government Printing Office has announced a new chair and five
new members of the Depository Library Council. Current member Bill Sudduth
will now head the group, and Richard Akeroyd, Timothy Byrne, Denise Davis,
Denise Stephens, and Katrina Stierholz will join....
GPO, Apr. 3
Bound
by Law
A spunky documentarian leads a fight to save fair use—and explains
copyright law in the process—in Bound by Law, a comic book
from Duke Law School's Center for the Study of the Public Domain. A free
digital version of the comic, published under a Creative Commons license,
is available on the school's website....
Surveying
the e-journal
preservation landscape
The latest bimonthly report on research library issues and actions from
the Association of Research Libraries, the Coalition of Networked Information,
and the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition is a survey
of the e-journal preservation landscape by Anne R. Kenney, associate university
librarian at Cornell University....
ARL
Australian
libraries are key players in community internet access
(PDF file)
Public libraries' crucial role in providing equitable internet access
down under is confirmed by a recent national survey conducted by the Australian
Library and Information Association....
Australian Library and Information Association, Mar. 31
Readers
jump into the pool
Librarians who have designed do-it-yourself Read posters have posted their
efforts on a Read Posters Pool on the photo-sharing website Flickr....
Flickr Read
Posters group photo pool